BBC World News, CNN International and NBC-backed Euronews are teaming up to donate $50M of advertising space to public health bodies fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

In a joint statement, the news organizations said they have a combined reach of more than 800M viewers and they will open up advertising slots across TV and online, with health bodies being able to target people in specific territories.

The World Health Organization will be the first to take advantage of the free ads, which the BBC, CNN and Euronews said is the first time they have come together for a joint initiative.

“Whilst CNN’s editorial staff are working tirelessly to ensure people everywhere have the most up to date and accurate facts, it also makes sense to promote the public health agencies’ messaging,” said Rani Raad, president of CNN International Commercial. “By working with our competitors, I hope this combined effort has a positive impact and our global footprint helps reach as many people as possible.”

Euronews CEO Michael Peters said: “We are proud to be launching this initiative with our long-time peers BBC Global News and CNN International: together, we want to help health authorities broadcast their vital messages more widely, and we hope many other media will follow suit.”

Jim Egan, CEO of BBC Global News, added: “Accurate information is one of the best weapons in our collective armoury for fighting this virus. We are telling the global story across our editorial output, but it also feels right to do whatever we can to help health agencies get their message out to the world as widely as possible.”